Goal: Reappoint public health officials who warned that reopening the state would cause needless coronavirus deaths.

Scientists at Arizona universities have been prevented from carrying out vital coronavirus research by Governor Doug Ducey, depriving the public of expert health advice just when it’s most needed. Governor Ducey has talked constantly since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis about how statistics and science, rather than economic concerns, will dictate when and how he chooses to reopen the state. His decision to reopen the state’s economy despite research showing that this would pose a needless risk to countless lives reveals his earlier promises to be lies.

Reopening now, researchers say, instead of holding firm until the end of May, will undo the progress made in slowing the virus’ spread, leading to a spike in cases similar to that in Georgia, with vulnerable people and minimum wage workers bearing the brunt of the disease and accounting for the majority of deaths.

Governor Ducey can’t be allowed to play chicken with the lives of Arizonans. Sign the petition below to demand that he restart essential research to help protect the safety and health of the people he governs.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Governor Ducey,

Your decision to reopen the state of Arizona despite explicit warnings that now is not the time is astonishingly irresponsible and cruel. Even now, the global scientific community knows too little about coronavirus or how to fight it to guarantee the public safety. Your cooperation with researchers at two Arizona universities was a beacon of hope, until you decided that it was no longer politically convenient to listen to those who warned you that it was unsafe to reopen your state.

I demand that you set aside party and financial loyalty and reinitiate this vital research. Only with the expertise of qualified doctors will the lives of countless Arizonans be saved, rather than sacrificed for the sake of profits.